An indicator is a calculation layered on top of price data that presents information visually. Two of the most useful for beginners: Moving Average and RSI.
Moving Average (MA)
MA averages price across the last N candles. MA20 means the average of the last 20 candles. The larger the number, the smoother the line, and the slower it reacts.
Simplest usage: price above MA = bullish bias, price below MA = bearish bias. When a fast MA (e.g. MA20) crosses a slow MA (e.g. MA50) from below to above, that's a common upside momentum signal known as a golden cross.
RSI (Relative Strength Index)
RSI measures the speed of price change on a 0–100 scale. It shows in a separate panel below the chart.
Use RSI to gauge trend exhaustion, not as a standalone reversal signal. In a strong uptrend, RSI can stay above 70 for a long time, exiting too early is a classic beginner mistake.
Start with one indicator until you understand its behaviour. Piling on indicators without understanding them just adds noise.